kuti legend

Nigeria: Seun Kuti live at Third Mainland Bridge

By Dami Ajayi

Posted on May 15, 2023 13:01

 © Nigerian musician Seun Kuti performs on stage during the Nice’s Jazz Festival on July 18, 2018 in Nice, southeastern France. (Photo by VALERY HACHE / AFP)
Nigerian musician Seun Kuti performs on stage during the Nice’s Jazz Festival on July 18, 2018 in Nice, southeastern France. (Photo by VALERY HACHE / AFP)

Social media was animated over the weekend when a video of Seun Kuti, son of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, of him assaulting a police officer surfaced

As with most short video clips, there is no clear information about the date and time of the recording. Here is what is clear from the circulating video: there was a traffic incident. A police van ran into Kuti’s luxury SUV on the Third Mainland Bridge.

Kuti and his partner got out of the vehicle. They did not appear to be physically harmed at the time. An irate Kuti, clad in a red blouse and lavish neck jewellery, intruded the personal space of a genuflecting police officer who seemed concerned about the welfare of the Kutis. A verbally aggressive Kuti eventually slapped the officer’s face.

Arrest but nowhere to be found…

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali-Baba, then ordered Kuti’s arrest. Police officers reportedly went to his place of residence and the Afrika Shrine, the night-club run by his family, to enforce this order, but he was nowhere to be found.

Prominent lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, has confirmed that Kuti has retained his services and that the musician presented himself to the police on Monday.